.Julia and Barnabas both undergo dramatic personality reformations by the end of the show.. . and in the 'entire context' of the show, Julia was good and Angie wasn't. Even though they both did good and bad things at times.
Angelique reforms ....look at the 1840 storyline. I know Julia you won't give the witch a break! Only julia receives absolution from you-
First of all, I would like to make clear that this post is not intended as an attack, and I don't mean to offend anybody, particularly Angelique's fans.
One of the things that troubles me most about Angelique (apart from her cruelty and the fact that she was doing all of these horrible things in the first place) is that she doesn't show any remorse. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't remember a time when Angelique ever said to Barnabas, "Oh, Barnabas, I love you so--and by the way,
I'm really sorry about destroying your family, stalking you through the centuries, and especially turning you into a vampire. " Even Barnabas and Julia were sorry for their crimes afterward; Angelique only seemed to repent when her spells backfired on her. Yes, I agree that she did mature throughout the series. I was particularly impressed by her behavior during the 1897 and Leviathan storylines. However, following a certain unpleasant discovery about the current man in her life, Angelique did suffer a little setback, and although I can understand why this would happen, I also feel that it reinforces something else that I believe about Angelique. I consider her to be very self-serving. As I see it, what she does is done solely to benefit her. Her actions are carried out with the intent of getting Barnabas to like her, not because she necessarily believes in what she's doing. She'll perform good works for a while if it suits her purposes, but then she'll turn bad again to get what she wants. She's too mercurial for me to trust her. I do think that she loves Barnabas in her own way, but I can't comfortably accept her sincerety in other matters (e.g. 1840.)
Julia's not exactly one of my favorite characters either (sorry, J99), but I do consider her to be more selfless than Angelique. While Angie torments to achieve her own goals, Julia's guiding purpose is to help Barnabas. She knew that it was wrong to kill Dr. Woodard and didn't want to take part in the affair, but she went through with it anyway for Barnabas's sake. I'm not saying at all that this should excuse her for what she did, but the motives do reflect on the characters.
In sociology class, we recently saw a video about morality, specifically about the stages of morality, and according to my understanding of the definitions of the various levels, here is where I would place each character. I would classify Angelique in the 2nd stage of morality, which consists of a "whatever works for me must be right" philosophy. As I perceive her reasoning, it's all right for Angelique to hurt people and ruin their lives as long as she can gain from it. Julia, on the other hand, tends to make her decisions with Barnabas's welfare in mind. This most resembles 3rd stage morality (concern with disappointing others/authority.)
Again, this is all in my most humble opinion and I don't mean to offend anybody in any way. If my views have disturbed, I apologize.
Respectfully,
ProfStokes
